The Professionals - The Complete Professionals (2015) [320]

The Professionals were an English punk rock band from 1979 to early 1982. They were formed by ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook after that band's demise.
The Professionals were formed in 1979 by guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, both formerly of the Sex Pistols. In the previous year, Johnny Rotten had left the Sex Pistols, and both Cook and Jones had sung lead for the late Sex Pistols recordings "Silly Thing" and "Lonely Boy". For these recordings, Lightning Raiders bassist Andy Allan was employed as a session musician. After the Sex Pistols officially split and broke ties with manager Malcolm McLaren, this line up was resurrected as The Professionals, and signed to the Sex Pistols old label Virgin Records.

In July 1980, The Professionals released their first single "Just Another Dream", which also included a video promo. This was followed by a second single "1-2-3" in October, which reached No. 43 in the UK Singles Charts. Shortly after the second single's release, Cook and Jones had plans to debut a self-titled LP during that same year. But there were some legal problems, as Allan had no recording contract with Virgin. He sued the record company, claiming he had never been credited nor paid by them. Consequently, Virgin's compilation album Cash Cows, which featured The Professionals' track "Kick Down the Doors", was withdrawn and the album was shelved. After Allan left the band, he was replaced by ex-Subway Sect bassist Paul Myers, with Ray McVeigh also joining the band as a second guitarist.The new line-up of The Professionals would later re-recorded previous material so that Allan would not be owed any further royalties.

The Professionals were first managed by Dave Hill, who had managed Johnny Thunders and was managing The Pretenders. They recorded radio sessions for John Peel's Radio 1, which aired on November 10, 1980,as means to promote the release of "Join the Professionals" that same month. Due to difficulties in finding a producer (Mick Glossop was eventually picked), the release of the single was repeatedly delayed up to June 1981. Hill left afterwards to focus on The Pretenders, and John Curd was chosen as a replacement. They then recorded further sessions with BBC, this time for The Evening Show with Mike Read on December 15.

The group brought in producer Nigel Gray to help record their full length album, the result was I Didn't See It Coming released in November 1981.The album was supported by U.K. and U.S. tour dates, and the release of a single for the song "The Magnificent". But the band's American tour was cut short when Cook, Myers, and McVeigh were injured in a car accident. The Professionals returned to America in the Spring of 1982 after a hiatus for recovery, but Jones and Myers' drug problems further hampered the band's prospects.They declined an opening spot offer on tour for The Clash, and broke up.

Later that year, "Join the Professionals" was featured in the movie Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains along with three other Cook/Jones compositions, "Conned Again", "La La La", and "Don't Blow It All the Way".

In celebration of the release of a three disc set (The Complete Professionals) by Universal Music Group for October 16, 2015, The Professionals, with Tom Spencer filling in for Steve Jones, reunited for a concert at the 100 Club.

Artist: The Professionals
Album: The Complete Professionals
Released Year: 2015
Genre: Pop/Rock
Playing Time: 61:10
Total Size: 141.2 MB
Codec: LAME 3.99
ID3-Tag: ID3v1/ID3v2.3
Format: MP3
Bit Rate: 320K/s


   
01. The Magnificent (3:53)
02. Payola (3:41)
03. Northern Slide (3:30)
04. Friday Night Square (4:40)
05. Kick Down The Doors (4:38)
06. Little Boys In Blue (4:15)
07. All The Way (3:22)
08. Crescendo (4:09)
09. Madhouse (3:17)
10. Too Far To Fall (3:52)
11. Just Another Dream (3:06)
12. Action Man (3:13)
13. 1 2 3 (3:04)
14. White Light- White Heat (3:49)
15. Baby I Don't Care (1:51)
16. Join The Professionals (3:19)
17. Has Anybody Got An Alibi (3:22)


**Enjoy**